There are many sides to ex-Office star Creed Bratton

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Creed Bratton’s name didn’t change for his character on The Office. But the man behind the character has little in common with his television self. For example, he isn’t a psycho killer prone to delusions.

For those familiar with Bratton only from his role on the hit NBC show, one thing is true: He was the guitarist for the ’60s rock act the Grass Roots. But the character was more like a crazed funhouse-mirror version of the actor and musician. The real Bratton, 72, is sharp, and he’s on tour performing the stand-up comedy and music routine that he has perfected throughout the years.

Ahead of Bratton’s show Tuesday at the Jackpot Music Hall, The Pitch spoke with him by phone about his dual careers and how they’ve intersected.

The Pitch: How does one go from being part of a seminal ’60s band to becoming a character actor on one of the most highly rated TV shows of the aughts?

Bratton: I was a drama major, so I was always planning to be an actor. Then I went off to Europe, and I was planning on coming back to acting after getting some life experiences. I met these guys, and we traveled around Europe as [a rock band called] the Young Californians. While doing that, I met this guy, Warren [Entner]. After a couple of years, I came back to L.A., and Warren and I put together a band called the 13th Floor. That became the Grass Roots, and I did that for four years.

When that was over, I was finally able to go back to acting, but I’ve always continued doing the music. I started out as a musician. My family played music, my grandparents played music, and there was always music growing up. So, as it [The Office] was winding down, the last couple seasons, I started taking bookings again. That’s what I’ve been doing for the last two years — just touring around.

I think I might have to start doing acting again. My agents are getting nervous, like, “You’re doing this second childhood, just touring around like a youngster.” But it’s so much fun, you know? I love playing music — always have. I’m still doing the acting, though. I got three movies waiting to come out that are in post right now. Band of Robbers should be out soon, as well as Sound of Magic and another film, the name of which is escaping me right now. But I’m still working in both fields and won’t really give up one for the other.

I would imagine that, as your touring show involves both music and comedy, that’s kind of indicative of your enjoyment of both?

Well, yes. That’s just my strengths. I’m going to go to my strengths. I can act, and I’ve found that my timing is really good for comedy. It works well because of The Office. People have always known me as a funny guy, anyway — that’s part of my MO. I just segue from one song, whether it be a Grass Roots song or something I wrote for The Office. My hit isn’t “Live for Today” or “Midnight Confessions” — it’s “All the Faces” from the finale of The Office. That song went viral and is my bona fide single. It’s amazing.

The idea that you and your character share a name must make for some interesting assumptions from fans. How much of the real Creed Bratton is reflected in the character?

Yeah, that was weird, wasn’t it? I mean, Oscar and Angela and Phyllis got to use their first names, but I used my full name, and they talked to me like who I was, which was from the Grass Roots, which was unprecedented, actually. Can’t think of anybody else offhand, other than Jerry Seinfeld, who also played themselves.

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All of that bizarre stuff, like the killing people, that’s all true. [Laughs.] No, none of that stuff is. I wrote the character as a guy who continued doing the rock-and-roll things, like drugs and the nefarious stuff. They [the writers] just took it further, and I was a killer and I damaged the ecosystem and I was making up false IDs — every week would be something different. It was ridiculous, you know? I knew how to kill zombies or vampires or whatever.

Other than the current tour, what projects do you have on the horizon?

I have a show called Feather Peak that I created with a buddy of mine, Charles Canzoneri. I’m pitching that to networks. The concept behind it is that I’m a caregiver, and my family’s always been these caregivers. They’re not there in a hospice sense but to help you in a spiritual sense, in order to pass on to the other side and to do it without fear and to help you to find out what’s keeping you here and fearful. I live up in the mountains, and my granddaughter comes to live with me, and they find out that she’s got “the gift.” She thinks she’s going to go back to New York City but then discovers that she’s able to help people.

It’s a comedy, of course, set in a small town, and that’s the premise of it, along with the idea that, at one time, my character had written a jingle for a talk show like Johnny Carson, where it plays all the time. So, I made a lot of money, so I don’t have to work.

At the end of every show, the character starts off this little song, and then you’ll be able to go online after the show’s ended and hear the whole song in its entirety. I’ve written songs, and I’ve been in the studio with my producer. I’ve already cut four songs for the project.

Where did the concept of tying Feather Peak into online content come from?

This step is like writing my songs. I don’t know where the songs come from. I walk by to do yoga or to make breakfast, and my guitar’s just screaming at me to pick it up, and I pick it up and the song pops out. I started on the three-page treatment for the show, and the characters just popped out. The muse gives it to you. I don’t sit down and say consciously that I’m going to write about this or write about that. I’m just writing, and it comes out.

Finally, what can folks expect from the live show?

Basically, what’ll happen is that I’ll furtively slip out from the shadows and run quickly to the microphone. I’ll sing a little tiny bit of a song — not a whole song, just a bit — and then I’ll run off the stage and judge the reaction of the audience. If they seem to be of a favorable ilk, then I’ll come back and finish the song. Same way with the comedy. It’s only about a half-hour of material, but it takes a couple hours to deliver it, running back and forth as I do. I hope they’ll bear with me with this. [Laughs.]

Creed Bratton: An Evening of Comedy and Music

Tuesday, January 12, at the Jackpot Music Hall,

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943 Massachusetts, Lawrence